Heads of localities in the Gaza Envelope region and near the Egyptian border accuse Defense Minister Moshe (Bogie) Ya’alon of abandoning their security. This, in the wake of Ya’alon’s decision to abolish the protection of these localities, formerly provided by Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers. In addition, Ya’alon also decided to cut back the basket of military services they enjoyed until now, including funding for a circumferential fence, an electronic gate, a weapons storehouse and a security coordinator. The heads of the authorities claim that Ya’alon himself explained to them that these steps were taken in light of the “changes in the mapping of threats.”

Al-Monitor obtained a letter sent to Ya’alon by Shmuel Rifman, chairman of the Union of Regional Councils and head of the Ramat Negev Regional Council, in which he accuses the defense minister of making an “unreasonable, inappropriate and immoral” decision. “Mr. Minister, we evidently do not live in the same country,” Rifman wrote. “Since you assumed office, we perceive a worrisome process in which the state renounces responsibility for the security of the localities along the length of its borders — in the communities of the Gaza Envelope on the Egyptian border, on the northern border and the Golan. … To the best of my knowledge, the newspaper headlines in the State of Israel have not announced that peace has erupted. The opposite is true: Over the recent weeks, the Gaza Envelope residents experienced a large number of Code Red alerts.”

In the letter, Rifman wonders if “[the slashing of] the basket of security components [for the Negev], at a total of NIS 70 million [about $20 million], is enough to rescue the entire defense budget.” He signs the letter with the statement that “you and the security system have sacrificed and abandoned the security of our residents in exchange for the savings of a few million shekels.”

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Rifman continued to critique Ya’alon’s decision to remove IDF protection of the localities that are adjacent to the southern border. According to Rifman, the residents of the region have been coping with an erosion in their sense of security ever since former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s regime dissolved and activities of Islamic organizations have intensified close to the border. They are concerned about terrorists infiltrating their localities and from abductions of farmers working in fields adjoining the border. Rifman tells us that activities of the Egyptian army very close to the border are clearly evident every single day, and that Egyptian helicopters circled over Israeli localities twice in recent weeks, in coordination with the IDF.